Hubble Space Telescope

Three distinguished men from the Lawrence County area have played a major role in the exploration of space for the United States. We are proud to recognize them and give credit to their accomplishments... Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom - NASA Astronaut Biography NASA selected Grissom as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959. He made the second 15-minute suborbital Mercury flight on July 21, 1961, aboard the capsule Liberty Bell 7. After splashdown in the Atlantic, explosive bolts holding the emergency exit hatch blew without warning and water filled the capsule, forcing Grissom into the ocean. He was rescued by helicopter, but the capsule sank. Recovery of the Liberty Bell 7 Grissom was assigned to command the first manned flight test of the Apollo capsule. He died along with astronauts Edward White II and Roger Chaffee in a fire during a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Apollo Mission ................................................................................................................... Kenneth D. Bowersox - NASA Astronaut Biography STS-61, December 2-13, 1993, was the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing and repair mission. During the 11-day flight, the HST was captured and restored to full capacity through a record five space walks by four astronauts. After having traveled 4,433,772 miles in 163 orbits of the Earth, the Space Shuttle Endeavour and her crew returned to a night landing on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ................................................................................................................... Charles D. Walker - MDC Payload Specialist Biography He was responsible for training the NASA astronaut crews in the operation of the CFES payload on STS-4, STS-6, STS-7, and STS-8 shuttle flights during 1982 and 1983. Confirmed by NASA in 1983 as the first industrial payload specialist, Mr. Walker accompanied the McDonnell Douglas CFES equipment as a crew member on Space Shuttle missions 41-D, 51-D, and 61-B, accumulating 20 days of experience in space and traveling 8.2 million miles.